The future of cars - Updated

Interesting couple of updates to this post from 2 years ago.  My husband now has a contract out in Surrey, so he has to drive everyday.   This means that often he and I both need a car.  So it would seem that going down to one car is even less feasible than before.   But it also coincides with my son moving into a booster seat and getting ready to start school in September.  His new school is conveniently 2 blocks from a Modo Car Co-op car (Co-operative Auto Network rebranded this since original post).  His new school is about a 20 minute walk for us. So it has become more feasible for me to walk/bus my son to school, then grab a co-op car if I need to do any running around that day.  If I continue to work as a consultant, and not needing a vehicle everyday, I could see this being a very real option for us to get rid of my car.
Original post from April 2010...

We had friends over last weekend and I was surprised when they said they had driven to our house. This young urban couple with no kids are avid transit and environmental supporters and have no car.  So I was surprised to hear they had driven.  But they had had some special errands to run that day and needed a car.  They are members of the Co-operative Auto Network.  So they had a snazzy red hybrid for the afternoon and evening. 

I thought great on them.  I know when I first started my career in TO I went without a car for years.  It was especially funny as I worked on the Saturn, Saab, Isuzu advertising account.  But I was a junior and couldn't afford to have a car.   So the guys could laugh all they wanted. If they weren't going to pay for me to have a car, I wasn't going to pay for one myself.   If I had to drive out to GM in Oshawa, I rented a car and expensed it.  It was cheaper than taking a taxi.    But today it would have been much smarter for my company to have been part of the co-op.   I also would have LOVED a car co-op for those big grocery shopping, errand running days. 

With a young toddler and both my husband and myself currently self employed (and always on the run to one side of town to the next) a car co-op at first seems unrealistic for us.  I initially have visions of me on the bus, with a toddler and a car seat, making my way over to the co-op location about 12 blocks from our house. 

Most of the time we have 2 cars.  One of which is very busy running one of us across town for work or errands. The other is used a lot less.  In the summer we have 3 cars, as my husband has a vintage 1975 MG convertible.  In those months our "2nd" car is very much under-utilized.  Unfortunately the MG can't be used when running a toddler around.  So thus we have kept our second car.  We have considered selling it, but weren't sure how we'd coordinate on those days when we need 2 cars. 

I'm beginning to wonder if a car co-op might be a better 2nd car option for us.   It might require a bit of coordination.  And perhaps one of us driving the other over to the co-op location.  But it could be a viable way for us to reduce our car load, be more environmental and reduce our budget.

What about you? Could being a member in a car co-op allow you to get one (or more) of your cars off the road?

Follow Me on Twitter

This phrase "follow me on twitter" is starting to bug me.  It all started when The Bay (@thehudsonsbayco) radio ads added "..and you can follow us on twitter".  I've tried to engage with their brand on twitter several times and have had no interaction. When I look at their twitter stream I see some interaction but they, IHO, are not truly engaging.   

"Follow me" or the FB version of "Like me"  infers a one way communication.  You follow them , they provide information. Likely the same information they have traditionally pushed out through other channels - sales, events, new product info.  It feels like the marketing department said we really HAVE to get on twitter - everyone else is there.   So they got an account.  But they have not yet developed a true strategy to engage with their "followers".   They likely have in depth strategies on how they will position themselves in all their other channels - why not twitter too?

I've tried to engage with @thehudsonsbayco and several other brands on twitter over the past few weeks. I've asked very deliberate questions.  Questions clearly directed at them, not just conversations where you flag a brand. I've asked questions that should be easy for the corporate tweeter to answer.  None  have been answered.  Now I don't expect 100% of my mentions of a brand to get answered.  But when I form a deliberate question directed to them I would hope that at least some would get an answer.  Maybe not right away. I understand that many brands do not have 24/7 coverage on social media.  But I do hope for an eventual answer. 

The other end of the spectrum is @xboxsupport. I tweeted a comment about a problem with our kinect. It wasn't a direct question.  So I wasn't expecting an answer.  10 minutes later I had a reply with a link to a potential fix to my problem. They then followed up with a DM to get my feedback on my level of service.  If you check the @xboxsupport twitter bio it clearly indicates they are there to engage. It also includes the hours the account is serviced.  Xbox clearly has a customer service strategy for their twitter interactions on this account (and they have other accounts that engage people in different ways).

Another brand that I've found a lot of fun to interact with is @canadianliving.  I tweeted something about a recipe of theirs I was trying.  They replied, pretty quickly on a Sunday, that I should post photos.  We had a little conversation about muffins.  And then I asked if the recipe could be done with whole wheat flour.  The tweeter told me she'd check with their test kitchen the next day (it was Sunday).  On Monday I had an answer and suggestions.  The next time I made that recipe I tried their suggestions and then I posted photos.  Not only was I happy with the customer service, but it increased the perception of their brand with my followers. Many of whom piped in about the muffins and the recipe. 

It takes a clear engagement and positioning strategy for twitter.  Just opening an account, telling people to follow you and then using it to push corporate announcements isn't enough today.   Yes it takes a lot of work to manage a successful brand twitter account.  But it has always taken a lot of work to build relationships with your customers. I don't understand why brands seem to think social media is going to be any different.  Their is this "get rich quick" mentality to using these free tools.  But twitter isn't a Kevin Costner movie, if you build it they will NOT necessarily come.

So don't just tell me to follow you.  Give me a reason to have a conversation with your brand.   Even the pied piper gave people a reason to follow him.

Do you favourite brands you follow in social media?   Do you have examples of brands who seem to get it?  Or those that are just hoping for people to show up.  Feel free to answer in the comments or @tjrossignol.  I respond within normal waking hours.

Buying Both a Business and a Brand

It seems logical common sense to me that when you decide to buy an existing business that you realize you are buying more than just a business.  You are buying the existing business' product/service, as well as its brand, its reputation and its relationships with its customers.  But this is apparently NOT common knowledge.  I've seen several cases recently that make me shake my head.

There are some real benefits to purchasing an existing business. They have done the initial set up for you. They have an existing (and assuming successful) product/service, clients, processes, etc.  But you need to look beyond the balance sheet to see what makes that business tick and why its customers give them their business vs their competitors.

As some of you might have heard Vancouver is a bit of a coffee city.  In fact there are 4 independent coffee shops within a 3 block radius of one of my client's offices.  And there are 3 Starbucks within an extra block walk.  Each of the independent shops has its own unique brand.  Something that differentiates them from the rest.  The three that I frequent regularly include:

• Coffee culture place - They have the single estate roasts. Their staff compete in the regional barista competitions.  Little chit chat here, unless you are talking the merits of coffee.  They offer high quality, and really just a bit too highly priced sandwiches and goodies.
• Caterer that could pass for your "local" if it was a pub - they love their food here and their kitchen is just as big as the coffee shop. They know my name, they know my order before I walk through the door, they know that one of my coffee cups has a lid larger than my head.  There are regulars sitting there that must have jobs, but how can they because they are always there.  I half expect a "Norm" to be called out Cheers style as people enter.
• Funky coffee shop with unique sandwich and soup combos.  This is where I go to get my flavour shot coffees, with a tuna melt and some crazy soup.  I chat with the owners about vintage jewelry and make sure my coffee card gets stamped.  The owners are relatable and friendly.

Part of my consumer behavior is the location for each of these shops.  The "local" is close to the parking lot and gets my morning visit where I pick up my decaf mocha, a great bran muffin (developed from the owner's grandmother's recipe) and sometimes a cool and yummy salad for lunch.  Then the funky coffee shop is closer to the office and easy to pop into for my afternoon jolt, or perhaps lunch once or twice a week.  The coffee culture spot is left for the days I want an excellent Chai NOT made from some super sweet mix. Note that the coffee culture is the closest to the office. But I frequent them the least.

Now the funky coffee shop was recently sold to a new owner.   While she has kept all the products the same, she started putting her stamp on the business right away.  The obvious is the new artwork -- and a wall fireplace.  These changes are (I'm assuming) supposed to make the place more high class.  But what made its customers love this place was its funky, arty, community vibe.

Then there is the staff.  The old owners had a great balance between chatty and leaving you to your business.  And they really set that funky, art, community vibe of the place.  The new owner is not chatty, and while she smiles a lot she isn't really that friendly.   Now that in itself is fine, because if she understands the brand of the business she bought she can hire staff that can help make up for her weaknesses.  But she hasn't. 

There was also an old fashioned neighourhood feel to the place.  I forgot my wallet at the office one day. No problem. Catch them tomorrow.  I caught up the next day.  Apparently a few other people ran a more regular tab (a rare thing in this day and age).  They must have been slower to pay than the new owner liked.  Because there suddenly appeared a list of outstanding tabs on top of the loyalty card box.  Nothing like publicly shaming regular customers to lose customers. 

There also appeared a new hand written note on the cash register noting that debit transactions less than $5 would incur a 20 cent charge.  The new owner has clearly, and quickly set up her top priority, profit!    Not relationships with her existing customers.   It is no longer a funky, alternative place to get a great sandwich (at a good price).  The sad part is she clearly doesn't understand the brand she has purchased.  I know that some of the regulars from my client's office are going there less often.  They aren't boycotting the place, but one or two less visits a month by her regular customers is going to eat into her profits. 

And she isn't offering anything "new" that sets her apart from her competition.  She bought a great niche business and is whittling away at that difference.

Unfortunately I predict that as her traffic counts decline she will start to "adjust" her product mix to make up for it. And once those yummy sandwiches and unique home made soups change her business will eventually be lost.

The other example I have is more extreme.  Vancouver is also know for their bubble tea. People are really passionate about their bubble tea.  There is a lot of bubble tea in this town. But only a few places doing it really really well.  Places where you can get a fresh fruit bubble tea, with perfect pearls  These places have line-ups from the moment they open to the moment they close.  One of these has clearly been sold to new owners.  The signage still indicates a list of fresh and  powder bubble teas. But the "fresh" fruit now tastes like syrup.  And when asked if it is fresh you get these blank "yes" of course looks.  But they clearly are no longer fresh.  And the pearls are mushy.  The product is so bad and the change so obvious that long time customers are refusing to go EVER again after just one visit. 

In the case of the coffee shop you could argue that the new owner understands some of the core pillars to the business (the product quality has not changed) and is trying to elevate her new business to represent her vision for its brand.  But if you are going to do that you better be clearly defining a new brand differentiation for your business.  And not making yourself more like the rest.

In the bubble tea example the new owners don't even seem to care about the existing business they bought.  Neither really understand the brand they have purchased. And that puts both of these businesses at risk.

The Politics of Pink

My son is a stereotypical boy. He is into trains, trucks, robots, lego, excavators, dinosaurs, concrete mixers (don't dare call it a cement mixer in our house). He is a high energy boy who runs, jumps, dances (like Maniac from Flash Dance), roars like a monster, growls like a pirate and does a perfect impression of a transformer transforming.  And his favourite colour is pink. 

So yeah that last part isn't so stereotypical.  But I love that he loves pink.  And while I'd like to take all sorts of credit for being a gender neutral mom. It is his two girl friends at daycare that are likely the reason. They like pink.  So he likes pink. 

Personally I love a man in a pink button down with a matching tie.  But there are no pink clothes for boys.  And most of the girl t-shirts in pink, also include some sort of princess element.  And when I suggested a pink shirt that had a princess he emphastically said NO.  During a recent trip to Old Navy he picked out flip flops, blue with grey stripe track pants, Ewok t-shirt, 2 soccer balls and a stuffed Penquin. Since we weren't shopping for clothes (or toys), we compromised with the Ewok t-shirt.  We were there to buy new underwear.  We found it all in the girl's section.  His pick - pink girl's underwear. 

Was I an open minded parent? No. I distracted him with some blue stripes.  I worried about what people might say if they see him wearing pink girl's underpants.  I didn't worry about what they say to me.  I worried about what he would hear them say about him.  I've already had a few discussions with people I know about whether I should be concerned about his love of pink.  And for the record I'm not worried about that.

What I don't want is him thinking there is anything wrong with liking pink, just because society says pink is a girl's colour.   I'd love him to have the option to pick shirts or sweaters that include pink.  But pink underwear seemed over the line to me.   It seemed too open to critism from others.  Other kids and other adults. 

So for now, until someone designs some boy's clothes that include pink. I'll be on the lookout in the girl's department for cute pink/non-princess items that Lil T might like.  That is, of course, if he still likes pink next week.  As things change fast at 3.

The Moment of Un-Truth

First I have to say it is obvious my plan to post at least once a month on this blog has failed.  So I thought it was about time to take a break from my fashion blogging to talk a bit of marketing.




A few weeks ago I went to Victoria for Social Media Camp to see Scott Stratten of @Unmarketing fame speak. He didn’t disappoint. He is engaging. He is funny. He is really funny! And he makes a good point. Actually he makes many good points.


Scott isn’t necessarily telling us anything new. But he is certainly giving us a well needed reminder.


The basics of marketing, according to Scott, are that it is not a task. It isn’t a role, title or action item on a to-do list. It is every single time you engage with your customers. And building relationships means building business. Because as we all know that people do business with people – particularly people we know, like and trust. Scott reminds us that this is just common sense – too bad more of us don’t use it.


Marketing really is simple, but we make social media and marketing so complicated. One of my favourite comments was “We’ve had social media for decades it was called talking.” Social media is a tactic that allows you to build relationships!


When I rewind my career to 1992 I had the privilege to work on an innovative brand called Saturn (we can debate why Saturn failed in the long run on another day). This was my first job out of University and I was just happy to have a job in my chosen field of advertising – in a time when there were few jobs at all. I realized later what a great first job this was. Besides being a car company trying to introduce the innovative idea that a car company could be fair, they were smart marketers. They knew that all the millions they spent on starting this new car company from scratch would be lost with just one poor interaction – one grumpy receptionist, one mechanic that thought he could make a few extra bucks. They knew marketing wasn’t just your TV advertising. They knew that EVERY touch point with a consumer was a “moment of truth”.


This truth is even more true today in the world of instant worldwide social media conversations. So it is even more important to understand your brand and its differentiation in the marketplace. Keep it simple and deliver it at EVERY customer touch point. Build relationships and don’t try to hit people in the face to get them to buy now (you’ll need to read Scott’s book, aptly named Unmarketing to understand this comment).


Scott will be appearing in Vancouver in early December, on his UnMarketing book tour. Be sure you don’t miss him.

Multiple Twitter Personality Disorder

I recently attended a Canadian Society for Marketing Professional Services (CSMPS) luuncheon featuring
Craig Faulkner speaking to social media.  His presentation gave me a few tips on how to adjust my social media thinking for my 'day' job. 

But it also got me thinking that perhaps I'm suffering from multiple twitter personality disorder.  And I don't think I'm alone.  I was chatting with a couple of other twitter friends on the weekend - and by chatting I mean in person sitting next to each other talking (which to me is the real value of twitter... but more on that another day).  My 2 friends are entrepreneurs and both had a personal and business twitter account. We laughed about creating a unique voice and audience for each of our accounts.  Then I rather sheepishly admited to managing four (4) twitter accounts. 

Somedays having 4 different and very distinct accounts is a challenge.  But I still seem to be in control of them all... well except for those few times when I click the wrong personna on tweetdeck or hootsuite and I tweet something about diaper training on another account.

First there is my personal account @tjrossignol. This one is the most complex cause it is the personal me.  It is the mom, wife, marketer, tv viewer, lover of gossip, toilet training triumphs/failures, sci loving, sort of sarcastic account.  Lots of topics open to discussion just like this blog and ME.  Pretty much anything I'd say at a cocktail party after a glass of wine is fair game on this account.  I have a good group of twitter friends on this account. We get together in person for family outings, playdates, tweet ups, vancouver mom's night out, marketing events, etc.  They are great supportive pals and lots of fun to chat with online and in person.

Then there is the @WIL_Fdn.  This is the Women in Leadership Foundation account, which I manage with some help from a couple of other lovely volunteers. This account is all about inspiring and celebrating women.  Bringing women together and helping them empower themselves.  Topics include Women's leadership, professional advice,  entrepreneurial information, research, what other women's groups are doing and of course information so we can meet up with some great inspiring women at our events. We follow and are followed by some very interesting and successful women.  So I need to think networking profesional, and remove the glass of wine from my "voice" on this account  (and I apologize for those few training updates from @tjrossignol by mistake).

@Fashion_frwd40 is the side of my personality that has always loved fashion.  I'm sharing the details of my adventures in rediscovering my love of fashion after 40.  Just like the http://fashionforward40.com/ blog I tweet celebs over 40 fashion, my own experiences, great trends and tips from other fashionable tweets.  Now the people watching, slightly catty girl, with 2 glasses of wine (or perhaps a cosmo or two) comes out.   I'm still in the community building stage here.  I've started attending more local events and meeting people in person always seems to benefit my twitter relationships.

My final account is my work one.  I do the marketing for a professional services firm. This one is the hardest as I'm not an expert in the service we offer.  So I'm listening more than talking.   We are a creative thinking firm, so I use that as my guideline for content.  But so far I listen and RT more than I provide original content. 

Confused yet!  Me too.  I guess as long as the accounts don't start chatting amongst themselves without me, I think I'm okay. 

So how about you?  Do you have multiple accounts?  How do you create a unique voice for each?

Lilli'Q Cafe and Playhouse

Had a playdate today at the new Lilli'Q Cafe and Playhouse in Yaletown.  Great idea considering the number of parents living downtown and the number of truly kid friendly options in the area.

I had a nice chai latte - disappointed my 'to stay' cup was paper - and a couple of mini muffins. Nice quality products but would like to see more selection of food for both young and old.  Just a wider range of baked goods would be great. 

Was offered a free massage - great, but not the right day for me as I was there to meet and chat with my friend.

My son happily played in the toys amongst the other kids.   Which was a nice break for me.  My friend's son who was older at 4 was quickly bored as most of the other kids were between 0-2.

We didn't need a potty break while we were there, but saw a lovely open change area with a stool to the sink.  And it worked well with multiple people in the area at one time.

The biggest challenge I saw was the space for strollers.  There is a great stroller parking area but you have to go all the way through the space to get to it.  And it is a skinny space.  I watched about 10 minutes of stroller traffic jam when a number of people were arriving and leaving at the same time.  This is a challenge that will only get harder as more people frequent the cafe. 

Will I go again - absolutely.  Will it be a destination for a morning out - probably not. 

Moms in the media

It was so nice to attend Momcafe last Friday without having to worry how my little guy was settling in with the child care. After two experiences of him having to sit with me through the presentations, I made other child care arrangements (convenient that Grandma was in town that day). So I was able to network with other moms and enjoy the presentations without distractions.

Today’s speakers were Moms behind the Headlines: Andrea Vance, Publisher of WestCoast Families; and Tamara Taggart, CTV Weathercaster.

Andrea talked about her path to becoming an entrepreneur and publisher. Tamara talked more about how she makes it work today.

It was interesting to hear Andrea talk about her late days and nights working at EA. How that lead to a late night life discussion over Rum and Cokes, with her now husband. And how that led to her quitting her high paying job with nothing to go to and no plan.

The biggest transitions for her were:

• Learning to work from home. How to get out of bed and out of your PJs everyday. She realized she had to think about it as ‘work’ and to prepare herself for each day, as she was going to the office. And some days that might mean staying in her sweats for the day.
• Thought she could plan her transition to being a parent. She had 9 months to get organized. She isn’t a big planner, but feels that her work plan went well. The home plan did not go to plan, and the anticipated labour distribution plan had to be adjusted after the baby was born.

For her balance is about dealing with whatever has to get done and that she goes to bed feeling like she (and her child) ate and that things got done that needed to be done.

For her the question should not be what is next? But what is next next? What is the passion or ultimate goal?

It was interesting listening to Tamara and really relating to a number of the things she said about her life. She works in the ‘soul sucking business of TV’ (I used to work in the soul sucking business of advertising). And she waited until she was older to have kids, only because she didn’t meet the right person until she was older (same story for me). She is a worry wart and had challenges realizing that when you have kids you have to give up some of the control (amen sister).

She believes she can have it all. You just have to prioritize differently.

It was interesting listening to her story about her oldest child Beckett who was diagnosed with Downs Syndrome 5 days after he was born. Her pregnancy had been easy, and all the tests had been good. So she and her husband were completely unprepared and knew nothing about downs syndrome.  She had to learn fast. The difference in her situation is that she had to go through it in front of the public.

She addressed why she went back to work after 4 months after both children - “because they needed the money”. It is the most expensive time of your life and you only qualify for EI. So she went back to work. I appreciated that while not everyone in the room would agree with her, she was unapologetic. It was her choice for her family. She doesn’t judge others decisions and she doesn’t expect anyone should judge hers. (note to those who want to express their opinion to her in the grocery store – make sure she isn’t holding a jug of milk).

She talked about the Regis show as a ‘big show with a small town mentality’. They really made her feel comfortable and she was surprised by how laid back they were. And that helped revitalize her idea of what she does. And to her it is very important to love what she does.

How does she manage with her busy schedule?

• She has a team. Her mom, a part time nanny and of course her husband.
• Being home for bedtime is mandatory. Most nights both parents are home for bedtime, but there is always at least one of them there.
• Prioritizing her time – cause frankly she’d rather shop for the kids than herself these days.
• Nothing comes before her family.  And work knows this.  "It is what it is".  Although she does have to remind herself of that every so often.

One of the questions for Tamara was how she handles privacy for her family. She is a pretty open person (says she answer anything but her weight). She doesn’t want to hide her children, nor make Beckett a poster child for downs syndrome. But he is fantastic and wants other people to see that. Of course being in the public she does have to consider safety issues, and has had stalkers. 

Like all parents she doesn’t seem to have a concrete answer to all the questions. She notes that she replaced her Us magazines with mommy blogs and loves to learn from them. On the flip side she doesn’t have the answers, but if someone can learn from her then great.

 Both Tamara and Andrea seem, like most parents, to take it day by day and try to make the best decisions for their families and themselves.   Doing something you are patient about is key no matter what you do.

Mini Rant - sometimes it isn't just a shopping cart

Yesterday I read this blog post from the Church of the Customer blog about fees being penalties.  In this case they were relating a lack of baggage fees with increased business.   They make a good argument - one with which I very much agree. 

As I searched frantically in my wallet for my loonie to get myself a shopping cart (while restraining my rampant toddler who wanted to run amok through the store), I thought this might be similar.  Why am I paying a fee to get a shopping cart?  A basic necessity when shopping for more than 1 thing (leaving the other hand free for restraining said child).  I know the argument from stores is that it saves them money and in the end keeps their prices down.  Frankly it seems a cheap way to put the onus on the customer.  A penalty for being their customer.  And frankly a real pain in the butt for parents shopping with children (and who might not be so organized as to always have a loonie at the ready for the store). 

The assumption is that a loonie (or a quarter at some stores) is enough money to ensure I take my cart back  OR that I don't steal the cart.   This policy assumes I'm guilty before I even come into their store.   And if I really wanted to steal the cart would the loonie really stop me???? 

When I fly I need to take baggage, so I don't expect to have to pay for that 'extra'. When I shop I want to buy more than one thing.  And I don't want to have to pay a 'deposit'. 

Sure I get the money back for good behavior.  But that isn't the point.  

What does your retail staff say about your business?

I worked a few retail jobs during my youth from local grocery store, to a toy store, to fashion boutiques. All of them were small businesses with an interesting assortment of hands-on owners. So I understand how difficult and boring these jobs can be. But the owners of this type of business need to understand both their customer and their staff.

As a marketer I have a new perspective of these jobs and their role in marketing a brand. The people that are in your stores are not just sales people or cashiers. They are the living breathing version of your brand. Every single time a customer comes into contact with your brand they leave with a perception of that brand – whether they buy something at your store or NOT.

This is particularly important in a slow economy. Customers have a choice and those that treat their customers and staff well should weather things long term. Pushy, gossiping, upselling, policy pushing, corporate robots can do a lot of harm for your business. Training and managing staff is hard work, but it is a core part of your marketing plan. They need to understand your brand and your priorities. And it shouldn’t just be SELL more product.

This seems like Sales 101, but a few things I’ve learnt…

1. Not all customers WILL buy from you.
   
   I had a boss that was convinced that you could sell something to every single person who came into her store. She was a very fashionable boutique situated in a trendy ‘lets hang out and wander around on a Sunday’ part of town. These people were NOT actually shopping. They might buy something on impulse, but generally they were not going to drop $400 on a dress. These people did not react kindly to the high pressure sales tactics we were told to use. So as an employee I was constantly getting cranky customers telling me they were ‘just looking’ as soon as they came into the store. The owner was well known for her tactics and locals knew to enter the store with their guard up and ‘no thank you’ at the ready. I wasn’t pushy enough as a sales person so I didn’t last long, but then again neither did her business.
   
   You need to know who your customer is and adjust your sales pitch accordingly. Not all customers are the same. Most would like to be greeted warmly and then allowed to look around. Staff should be approachable and helpful. While they may not buy this time, if you leave them with a poor taste in their mouth they certainly WON’T be back to buy next time.
   
2. The upsell is more than just annoying.
   
   I personally hate shopping at stores where you instantly know the staff has been trained in the ‘upsell’. I’m shopping for jeans and they say “have you checked out our accessories which are half off today?” Sure once in a while it works when you have found a dress you love and the staff suggest an interesting piece that matches it. But most staff doesn’t know when to use the upsell to make it relevant to their customers.
   
   The problem here might be that most staff doesn’t have time to actually service these days. And it annoying to essentially have no service until you get to the cash and then a (unseen until now) staff person starts making suggestions. This makes me think of “would you like fries with that?” And I can imagine you don’t like your store being compared to fast food.
   
   As a business you are meeting a need – this is sales 101. If your staff is well trained they need to get to know your customer a bit, so they can make suggestions that meet that need. Then when an opportunity exists they can recommend a little something extra to a customer. The customer will appreciate this added value. And your brand will benefit in the long run.
   
3. Your store isn’t a water cooler.
   
   We have all experienced the store where the staff are gossiping with each other or are on their cell phone chatting with a friend. I know it can get boring working in retail. But if a customer is in the store they really don’t need to hear your latest gossip. By all means don’t do the reverse and stalk the customer around the store. But understand that you are reflecting on the business and its brand reputation.
   
   To be honest owners are often the worst. They are trying to get business done while working in the store. And I’ve heard some pretty heated discussions between owners and staff or suppliers. To me this reflects very badly on your brand. If you treat your employees and partners with that much disrespect in front of your customers - I can only assume what you say or do when we aren’t there. Have an office for your work phone calls and bring in some staff to support your time in the office. The extra hard cost will be worth the potential damage to your business.
   
4. Are your staff properly trained in corporate policy as well as common sense?
   
   How many bad PR stories have we seen recently where poorly trained staff used ‘corporate policy’ to support a bad decision. H&M in Vancouver had such an incident where a staff person tried to get a nursing mom to move to a quiet room to nurse. The corporate policy was to have a room available in case a mother wanted privacy. But that poorly trained person told the mother she had to move it was ‘policy’. H&M got national press and a ‘nurse in’ the next week (although I was impressed how H&M head office handled the poor press). To be honest I’m not surprised that someone at H&M got it wrong. All my experiences there lately have made me wonder if some of their staff members have any brains at all.
   
   All staff needs to be well trained in corporate policy. But you also need to hire people with enough common sense to think through a situation and adjust accordingly. Each and every sales staff member is a potential spokesperson for your company. They can’t just look good. They need to think too!
   
5. Your staff needs to care.
   
   I know how much customers can get ridiculed by staff. And a customer can tell when a corporate environment considers this appropriate behavior. You can tell when the staff just doesn’t give a crap. Think about an episode of The Office. They don’t really care about their customers. They are just sales to them. This speaks volumes about your brand. Treat people like individuals and valued customers. And they will likely become repeat and valued customers.
   

Is your brand accessible?

I read a great blog by Fiona Walsh this week talking about Sending your Business to Your Competition. She makes a great point… “There is no point in spending a ton of money on marketing unless you make sure you deliver on what you promise. If you don’t meet customer expectations, they will tell others and they will move over to the competition.”

I believe in 360 degree marketing and that at every touch point you can disappoint a customer’s expectations of your brand. And everyday I see a problem that goes deeper than just meeting minimum customer expectations. After 2 years of navigating a stroller through all sorts of stores I wonder how so many businesses miss it. Can your customers actually get into and around your business?

It seems an easy question to me. Unfortunately for a lot of Vancouver area business’ the answer is no. So many are worried about cramming as much merchandise and displays into their business that they forget about the actual customers. They forget that not all their customers walk into their stores. They forget the customer experience isn’t just whether the store looks pretty and the staff is friendly. If I can’t easily navigate around your store chances are I WON’T shop there anymore.

This issue applies to a wide range of the Canadian population including: families with strollers; people with disabilities who use wheelchairs or need guide dogs; and the elderly population who may need a cane or walker. And in some cases I wonder how able bodied people walk through some of these stores.

Some questions to ask yourself?

• Are your aisles big enough for 2 of your store carts to pass each other without incident?
• So you have an automatic door button that allows people with disabilities to enter your store. But can they navigate a walker or a wheelchair around your ‘wonderful’ aisle displays?
• Do you have stock sitting in your aisles waiting to go onto your shelves? \
• Your business is focused on appealing to families. Can a stroller fit through your aisles? In fact, can it get past the stairs entering your business.
• Do your staff look annoyed when someone is trying to navigate a stroller around your aisles?
• Does your store need an elevator? Where is it? And does is big enough for a stroller and a parent? Better yet does it fit a double stroller AND a parent?

This isn’t just a small business problem. It applies to the big and small guys. London Drugs is notorious for those great in-aisle displays. My local dollar store aisle’s barely fit one of their own carts and then they leave boxes of merchandise in the aisles – I only go there as a last resort. Superstore has one way only traffic in their chips/soda aisle because of the large pop displays. And a local kid’s store has a step up to its front door. Sure I can lift my single stroller up that one step – but should I have to?? Or the Bay who puts some of their clothing racks so close together not even a child can walk between them.

There are those that get it right. A small local kid’s consignment store has the aisles organized to fit a side by side double stroller. A busy Granville Island store full of funky art, jewelry and household items approached me as I entered with my stroller and said to let her know if I had any problems navigating the crowds. She’d be happy to help. And a neighbourhood café has a spot set aside for strollers and lots of room to navigate it between the tables. There are always families at their café. And we walk the extra block to get visit them – right past their competition.

If you are wondering why customers in your store always seem grumpy and your traffic numbers are down. Take a closer look at your aisles and ask yourself a few questions.

Branding my Kid

I’ve worked in advertising most of my adult life. I’ve even worked on a few well known kids’ brands. I was still shocked by the amount of branded baby gear out there. When I first got pregnant I spent a lot of time searching online for the perfect nursery room set. I knew my child would be inundated with brand messages all his life. But does it really have to start as soon as they exit the womb? I mean do you really want the first thing they see clearly to be a Disney character mobile? I didn’t. So my guy’s nursery was decorated in a great blue, red, folksy farm animal nursery set.

His life hasn’t been brand free. But we’ve been selective and careful not to inundate him too soon.

Fast forward to today. We will be celebrating our guy’s 2nd birthday in a few weeks. And I’m surprised that he is already developing his own brand loyalty. No outside marketing. Just word of mouth from things in his everyday life. And I have to admit most of it is our own fault.

It will be no surprise to my husband’s family that his first brand love is Lego. His Dad has been obsessed with it since his own childhood. And you can see by the photo of his 1970’s space collection, that that obsession continues today. Our guy started to play with his own Lego at about 18 months. Today one of his favourite toys is his “Lego truck”. He knows when there are pieces missing. And loves to get me to read the little “Lego book” that came with the toy and he points to the different pieces and names them, ie: horsie, tractor, doggie. Now at this point he really doesn’t understand the brand promise or competitive differentiation of Lego vs other similar products like Mega Blocks. But he knows this building stuff is something he really likes and will happily point it out when he sees it in a store, picture or at a friend’s house. And interestingly he hasn’t mistaken any other building toy brands for Lego.

The 2nd brand in his life are his crocs. He knows the difference between boots and shoes….and his crocs. He knows the crocs are different than the other shoes and asks for them accordingly. When he loses one he shouts out “crocs”. This way we know he is without a shoe. My theory here is that he likes to name the shoes he can put on by himself – boots and crocs. He will pull on either and run around the house to let Mommy know he wants to go to the park or outside. In this case I think his brand association has developed as a way to show off and get what he wants… to go to the park.

Finally our little guy LOVES trains. My husband got a couple of Thomas the Train books at the church garage sale. And since then we constantly hear “choo, choo, choo…”. After a few months of static book trains we decided to let him see some moving trains on TV. At 22 months this was our guy’s first introduction to TV. And each day he asks for his 10 minutes of “Train… TV… Train… TV”. I tried to show him Mighty Machines and Bob the Builder. But NO. Only “Train… choo choo” will do. He loves to sit on the couch with Mommy or Daddy and watch his trains. In this case I’m not really sure if he is in love with “Thomas and his friends” or just trains in general. But I know that the song is still stuck in my head.

Keep up or get out of the way

I moved my cloth diaper (CD) thoughts to a separate blog a few months ago. In part because I thought that not all my regular readers may be interested in CD, nor the inevitable discussion around poop.

But today I wrote about the increased competition in the diaper service game. And some of my marketing readers might find this interesting. If yes, check it out here

http://cdmomramblings.blogspot.com/2009/06/keep-up-or-get-out-of-way.html

Recipe for a headache OR something for everyone

Crazy week!!. I've been trying to squeeze as many networking events into my schedule as possible - before they cease for the summer. So this week I attended 4 very different events for 4 very different reasons - Hydro, Cancer, KickAss and twittering Moms..... Frankly my brain is more than a bit full from the diversity that was my week. Am I really such an interesting person, or do I need to get a little more focus??


Wednesday lunch - Board of Trade, featuring Bob Elton, President of BC Hydro.

BC Hydro is on my top 10 places to work list, so I felt it was important to go and hear what Bob had to say about the vision of Hydro. I learnt a few things and realized some gap areas in my research. I won't give too much away here as I want to save the good stuff for my cover letter. The highlight of the lunch though, was the lady that I sat next to and with which I shared a great conversation over lunch (oh yeah, and I learnt salmon can remember back 80 years from before the hydro dam was built).

Wednesday night - Community Forum held by BC Breast Cancer Foundation.

This was relevant to me as I had my first >40 mammogram that week and it seemed appropriate and timely to go to this information session. BC is unique in that any woman over 40 can get a mammogram free of charge without a Doctor's referral - just call 1-800-663-9203. Early detection is key and a quick 10 minute test seems so easy.

This was the first ever Community Forum to connect CBCF with the community. We got to listen to an interesting expert talk about breast cancer prevention across the lifespan. The usual advise was heard... everything in moderation (especially when it comes to alcohol)... eat healthy to maintain a healthy weight.... be active... get screened. But I noted some interesting info that I hadn't heard before:

• Breastfeeding has shown to lower incidence (in the baby & in the mom)
• Activity at ANY age helps - never too late. But women who are active in their younger years have even lower risk than those who become active older in life.
• Research is showing more and more evidence that 2nd hand smoke is a strong risk factor.
• Some evidence that Vitamin D decreases your risk.
• Hormone replacement therapy should be avoided if possible.

We also heard a very inspirational story from a volunteer. But the laugh out loud (but not really funny) moment came from another survivor in the room, who having lived a healthy, active life realized that perhaps growing up in an airtight winter proofed house in New Brunswick with 2 smoking parents might have contributed to her illness.

Thursday night - League of Kickass Business People.

Yes this group certainly wins the award for the best name. Smaller group event. A lot of marketing, advertising and social media types.

I went to this event with a couple of former colleagues from the Rick Hansen Foundation. We all knew a few folks so it was easy to mingle and chat with people. The topic was the 2010 Olympics and maximizing your opportunities. Frankly it could have been called "Its not too late". A great diverse crowd of presentations. Event was live tweeted by TrevorRoald under #LOK. He captured some good nuggets.

I have to say it is this type of event that is hard on you when you are out of work. You need to attend this type of event to network and find work. Brought me back to my blog about networking and the dentist http://tjrramblings.blogspot.com/2009/03/networking-or-dentist.html. But it really made me realize how much more I know about myself today and the confidence I put forward is about what I know and who I am. NOT who I work for.

Friday morning - MomCafe... Moms are all a Twitter.

Finally I went to my first MomCafe event. I wanted to meet other professionally minded Moms and hear what a couple of great mompreneurs had to say about using twitter (Anne Marie from @yoyomama_van and Sue from @raspberrykids talk). Lovely, casual event, easy to chat with mom's about all sorts of things (including whether we should half the healthy and non-healthy monster sized muffins and then we could have a bit of both... we did BTW). The frustrating part came from my lovely toddler, who just discovered separation anxiety about a week ago. Nannies on call had to find me about 30 minutes into the program. Thankfully he sat nicely with me for a bit, but then I had to walk him around to keep him amused. And yes, for those at the session he was the aspiring Canadian Idol at the back of the room. Event was live tweeted by yoyobelly under #mctweet.

MomCafe started me thinking that maybe I need to take a good look at what I've learnt about my self in the past 10 months. Meaning re-evaluating my thoughts on doing contract work OR just starting my own business. And that REALLY makes my head hurt.

Building Major League Loyalty

This week I attended the BCAMA breakfast speaker series - Building Major League Loyalty. The folks from the Whitecaps were there to parallel their experience of building fan engagement to building customer engagement. Now I'll say right off I don't know much about soccer at the professional level. My experience is at the local level working with Wendy's and McDonald's. Soccer is the biggest sport in Canada for both boys and girls. And I always wondered why that never translated into the professional sport. But I digress. My interest here was to see if there were any learnings that I could translate to use for my work with Women In Leadership Foundation or other clients.


Representing the Whitecaps was Bob Lenarduzzi, President and past player, coach, general manager, director of soccer operations; Kim Jackman, Director or Marketing; and Ryan McKee, Marketing Manager. I used to work with Kim at Ogilvy & Mather in what seems like lifetime ago. She was always a smart marketer and it was great to see her grow her skills over the years and land such an interesting and challenging role.


It is obvious from the beginning that Bob has the same passion for soccer that many of his fans feel. He lives his passion everyday and I think he could tell fun and interesting stories about soccer for days. He touches on his early days on the team and the slim days when the Whitecaps were barely holding things together. He talked about how there a lot of old time soccer fans out there that have lost touch with the Whitecaps, and how many of them are coming back with the MLS announcement. He talked about different owners over the years, and how the current ownership group really embraced a long term vision for the term (and soccer in Canada).

This brings us to point #1 in their five fan engagement strategy. What they called "Starting at the top". To many organizations this would seem to be a no-brainer. But it often isn't. In order to really succeed you need an organization where the most senior stakeholders (in this case the ownership group) have a focused long term vision, are engaged in making that vision happen AND their staff know they are engaged in it. It is too often you see Senior Management state their vision and then leave it to their executive team to get it done. In this case, everyone in the organization knows the vision, knows how they can contribute to it, and knows their ownership group is invested in the team's day-to-day progress.


The ownership group has 3 key objectives for the team - open and transparent to everyone as they are listed on their website. All staff and team use these objectives to screen key decisions (projects must meet at least 1 of the criteria to be considered to go forward):

• To be one of the best small market sports franchises in the world
• To grow the game of soccer in British Columbia & Canada
• To be a significant community asset

#2 - No 5 minute solution

When you have a clear vision of where you are going and who you want to be it makes it easier to assess your environment for opportunities. But when your vision is unclear it is harder to do your due diligence because you can't focus. Who really is your competition and who shares your vision that can help you achieve it? Are you competing against yourself? This would have been a good question for GM to have asked itself many years ago - or perhaps they knew it but weren't brave enough to make the decision required to fix it... but I digress again.

In the Whitecaps case the new owners asked what relationship the Whitecaps had with BC soccer and Canadian soccer associations? The fast answer was 'we talk to each other'. The real answer was they competed with each other with duplicate programs. This overcomplicated things for players and their parents. So while at the grassroots things were booming it became more complicated to help the really fantastic players rise. Today the 3 organizations all live on the same office floor. They have audited their programs and are committed to creating great players together.

This didn't happen overnight, and the results of this new cooperation won't be fully seen for years. But they now have a structure that touches players/parents at all stages of their life cycle. This will also help gain momentum with sponsors and fan engagement too.

Point # 3 is "Let them in/be honest". This is when Bob suggested losing your credibility was like your virginity - you only lose it once. An old analogy but never more true than in today's very transparent world. People will forgive mistakes and respect your point-of-view, but they will NOT forgive being manipulated, spun or lied to. Being honest with people gives them something interesting to engage with. So the team is transparent in its information and looks for opportunities to make themselves accessible. Whether it is the team signing autographs, the head coach doing a Q&A with a supporters group or Bob doing a meet n'greet in the lobby at a game.

Of course when you give people the opportunity to engage they will ask tough questions and you must be prepared to answer them truthfully and honestly... and not telling them what they want to hear. Just like in real life people where people may not like it they will respect you more for it.

#4 - Revist Relevance

Again could be marketing 101, but often gets overlooked in the excitement for a new projects or innovative medium (ie: twitter). The Whitecaps has several core, but distinct target audiences - fan groups, parents/kids, original fans. Each of them is so important to the future of the organization, but each has very distinct needs. You can't do everything for everyone. So must be sure what efforts you make are relevant to that audience in the way they use or interact with the product. Otherwise your efforts are wasted.

#5 - Finish What you Start

Kim describes this as the bridge between engagement and loyalty. I'd call it ignore your customers at your paril. If you invite them in, allow them some ownership of your brand, then you must be prepared to act upon what you hear. You also have to be prepared that you may not like what you hear. A request could seem as simple as repositioning garbage cans. But if ignored it could lead to fans becoming resentful and then throwing a lot of beer cans on the field instead of in that garbage can.

During the Q&A they talked about how they pull in new fans. And the answer really is to engage their current fans in one-on-one opportunities, and that will grow them new fans.

The best example of how this 5 point approach is put into play is with their support group strategy. The Whitecaps have some very passionate supporters. But to put their opportunity into perspective their supporter clubs are maybe 30 members and in Toronto they are 1,500. A fantastic opportunity, but requires some long term efforts. For years these groups were all but ignored by the organization. Today the Whitecaps are including them in the vision for soccer in BC by listening, engaging with them, following through and providing them an opportunity to openly engage with the team. Relevant events such as pub nights with the head coach, where they get his honest opinion, go a long way to building loyalty and credibility (Plus getting those garbage cans helps too).

Their story feels like the tortoise in the hare (although I had to compare the Whitecaps to anything slow). They are willing to do the work that will pay them long term dividends. They are maximing all their available channels; engaging one-on-one with their very passionate fans and giving them ownership through open honest 2 way communication, due diligence, relevant response and follow through. But to me most important is that they have included those fans in the shared vision, so everyone can be as passionate as the ownership group in the story of the newest MLS team.

So how does this in the end apply to my Women In Leadership Foundation challenge. Well we have a lot of passionate women supporters, who will soon be better included in our vision for the future, engaged more with the brand AND will hopefully start sharing that passion with their friends.

Managing Change to Survive & Thrive

I attended the Women In Leadership Foundation's (WIL) Annual BC Women In Business Luncheon last week.

Four women, from different industries with very different career paths gave us their perspective on overcoming change. Overally a very insightful afternoon with a lot of common themes to success in managing change. There were certainly a number of 'light bulb' moments that had personal relevance for me. But I expect that each woman in the sold out Hycroft ballroom took home something different.


Below are some of the key insights into each woman's success.


Rita Rogers, Senior Manager Events, Canucks Sports & Entertainment


The always charming Rita, acted as moderator for the event. She opened with a story relevant to me when she received some great advice just as she was about to have her first child.... "It will pass". It is often hard to imagine that things will change or that "it will pass", especially when you are up at all hours, with no sleep and are staring at the shopping channel for hours on end. But when you look back you realize that this advice is true. For all aspects of our lives.


Andrea Scott, Co-owner Skoah & Chikki Munki


Andrea has had an interesting career path from teacher on the lower eastside to fashion sales to owning her own business as well as being a marketing consultant at the same time and also being a Mom (she was very pregnant with child #2 while giving the speech). The big theme for Andrea is that you need to have a vision of your career vs a master plan. Now given, Andrea is the type of woman who LOVES change. But it is true that with an overarching vision of your career you are able to adjust and take advantage of new opportunities, while never losing sight of your vision. It also helped Andrea to have an attitude that "very little in life isn't completely irreversible". She felt that if a new opportunity didn't work she could always go back.

Now I have to ask myself what is my vision? Being a strategic marketer I really should know the answer to that question. I tell clients and peers everyday that you can't go forward and be successful without a vision. This certainly gave me something to think about.



Silvia Livingston, District VP, TD Canada Trust


I'll be honest I wasn't expecting to learn a lot from Silvia's talk. She has worked in banking (and at TD) for her entire career. I'm a marketer, who has spent much of her career in advertising agencies, and I didn't think there would be a lot of parallels for me to draw from. I was wrong.


Silvia spoke about 3 key themes to success in her career.

Knowledge is key - you build credibility through knowledge - both top down and bottom up. For Silvia this was particularly important when she had a staff with more years and more experience than her. She felt strong knowledge and leading by example helped her build the necessary credibility with her team.

Check your ego at the door - No job is too small and we all succeed if we get their together. This is true in group dynamics but also in your individual career path. Getting the career you want is not always a straight line. Silvia took 2 different lateral moves or demotions in her career in order to achieve the position and success she has today. These positions were challenging, but they allowed her to broaden her experience. She credits these moves as a key part of her success.

• This was a light bulb moment for me. As I continue to struggle to find full time work I wonder if there aren't some great opportunities out there that could help me broaden my skill set and help me advance my career in the long term. Hopefully I will be able to check my ego at the door.

Know your own weaknesses - when dealing with mistakes & failures it is important to learn from the mistake, take ownership and then get over it. But most of all understanding your own weaknesses can potentially help avoid future mistakes. For Silvia this was about talking less and listening more - this one conveniently is also relevant for me.


Claire Smith, VP Sales & Marketing, Vancouver Convention Centre

Claire had a career epiphany in a magazine store while in Frankfurt during a business trip when she found a book called "Managing your career". She notes that the book itself wasn't necessarily that profound, but it spoke to her at the right time in her career. At that point she felt she needed a change after 17 years in the same organization. So she went out on her own and became a consultant. Not the right step for everyone, but the one that made the right sense for her at the time. Her advice:

• there is a momentum to change... taking the 1st big step forward starts the ball rolling
• take charge of your career - there are no bad decisions as everything you do adds to your tool kit
• don't be afraid to take risks professional and personally
• ask for help
• don't let self doubt take over - push through it
• 3 degree of separation - there are a lot of people who can help you or they know someone who can

For me Claire reminded me the most of me - with the exception that she has gone out and taken charge of her career. I'm still in that 1st big step stage.


Taya Hawes-Puiu, Chief Marketing Officer, Cossette West

I know Taya, we used to work together at Cossette. We never worked on any direct project together, so we know each other from those short little conversations at social functions, in the hallway, elevator, etc. I learnt a lot about Taya this day. She is a bold and brave woman who has seized opportunities when they presented themselves and on at least one occassion asked for advice from the Universe (giving them a deadline for their response). She also came to a realization of her own vision while lying in a hospital bed in Hawaii. The secrets to her success are:

• be bold and brave
• the only constant is change
• trust your instincts
• seize opportunities
• if you don't know how - make a list
• cherish your relationships

To me this last one is the most important one as a human being. Jobs are not who we are. It is the people we know and the relationships we have that we cherish most in life. Don't let them get forgotten while you are busy doing something else.

Now what?

For a lot of years I took myself out of the drivers seat of my own career. And decisions made weren't really mine, but the one that came up at the time. I've been nervous to step out there and be bold, in part because that little 'friend' self doubt crops up. I really hate asking for help. And mostly I'm afraid if I make a mistake, go the wrong direction, take a demotion that I'll never be able to climb back to where I was before. At the same time I want to be flexible for change - I just don't want it to bend me like it has in the past. Somewhere in there is a happy medium - plus time for lunch with my girlfriends.

A note about Women In Leadership Foundation (WIL)


Women like to stick together. We are there to support each other, keep each other company and help each other succeed. This is true for women at all stages of their careers. Each of the speakers mentioned a friend (in the room) who helped support or mentor them towards their current success. To me this is the key to continued development of women in leadership. WIL gets that and it is this type of event that helps bring us together to learn from, support and celebrate each other's success. I'm pretty passionate about this. And it is for this reason that I volunteer on WIL's advisory board and lead their volunteer brand/marketing team.

Make or break your brand

"Never doubt that a small group of concerned citizens can
change the world. Indeed it's the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead

The growth and power of the Internet and specifically social media only makes this quote even more true today. The topic of watercooler conversation is quickly moving from last night's tv to real time issues via social media.

This is particularly true with happy or unhappy customer experiences. It takes just one unhappy customer, with the right online communities to kill a brand. Just ask Amazon after their crisis last week when they removed 'adult' titles from its sales rankings, including gay and lesbian titles. One man blogged http://markprobst.livejournal.com/15293.html about it and the response he received from Amazon. Once the issue started gaining momentum on Twitter Amazon responded that it was a glitch. That only spawned #glitchmyass website, blogs, tweets. Search #glitchmyass on twitter and you won't believe the amount of conversation on this topic.

Amazing that a long standing internet company like Amazon could make such a novice PR error in dealing with this issue.

In light of the power of this medium there is a lot of interest today in best practices on how to use social media to your companies advantage in today's world. Jennifer Lowther from 6S made a presentation on just that last night for the BCAMA.

She covered some good basics on social media. But what I wanted to hear those best practices. She feels that every project is different and things change so fast there aren't any clear best practices. But she did list off several MUST dos or do nots during her presentation (feels like best practices to me...).

1. Be real, honest and transparent - if you have something to hide it will be found on the internet
2. Plan before you go - a poor social media campaign can do more harm than good
3. At minimum you must monitor what is being said about your organization online - even if you aren't ready to jump into the social media game, people are talking about you in REAL TIME (this is also true of you as an individual - every potential employer, business partner or client will google or twitter you so you better know what it says)
4. Social media is REAL TIME - you must be prepared to deal with negative publicity or to own up to mistakes quickly, ie: Motrin, Dominos, Amazon...
5. must give more than you take... social media is a conversation not a push sales pitch
6. Be consistent in whatever you decide to do... if you start a blog make sure it is updated on a consistent timeline... so many organizations start blogging multiple times a week and then find that hard to keep up... be realistic and consistent
7. MUST have a social media policy for your staff - otherwise you could be Translink with a front page story on the Province.

The final and personal lesson is to understand the power of your online community... ie: NEVER piss off mommy bloggers.

Many of us still think of social media as a 'youth' tactic. This was demonostrated in part by Jennifer an 'expert' in her field who references using Wikipedia at University. Since University for me was 20 years ago I certainly felt old. But then Jennifer reminded me that social media is being driven by 35-50 years. And that reminds me that even as a newbie blogger my voice does matter and companies had better pay attention to it.

mentors

I saw Adrienne Clarkson speak a few weeks ago at UBC (before all the fun with my husband's ski accident concussion). She spoke at length about an English teacher she had at Lisgar - the same high school she and I both attended although many many years apart. And this got me thinking about mentors and people who have influenced my career (coincidentally I was asked this question in an interview 2 days after the presentation).

There are 2 key career mentors that easily come to mind. They were my two first bosses at Cossette and are still friends today. I worked twice for Glenn Stanley-Paul and am currently guided in my foray into blogging by Chris Morales (his blog is http://mykalsreport.blogspot.com). Now that I'm out west I don't get to see them as much as I would like, but they are still good friends and 2 of my most trusted professional allies.

But I have to say one of my biggest breaks didn't come from them, it came from a former client. She had a profound influence on me at a key point in my career.

My first job in marketing was at Cossette in Toronto in the early 1990's (see former post for more on those Melrose Place flashbacks...). I worked on the GM account - specifically the female friend Saturn. I was one of the few women on the team. But our client was a woman named Susan Docherty. I had been in my secretarial 'start at the bottom' position for about a year. Our Account Executive Lili had recently resigned and there was an opportunity for me to take on more - really show that I was more than a great excel wiz at building complex competitive charts. But the men that I worked with were a bit anxious about moving me up too quickly on such a male dominated client such as GM. Our team lead was concerned the client may not take the former 'secretary' seriously. And Chris and Glenn seemed to be concerned that if I faltered I may not get a second chance with them. But Susan thought I could do more and she fought to get me a couple of opportunities to show my stuff. My bosses had no choice but to give me the opportunity.

And I needed Susan's help. I totally screwed up my first presentation to a small dealer co-op. She bailed me out about half way through the presentation - without my losing face with either the dealers or my bosses (who weren't at the meeting). She coached me and then pushed me forward again at the next opportunity. She knew I'd get there and I did.

I don't have a long term relationship with Susan. She and I weren't friends outside our client/agency relationship. I have no idea if she is still with GM today. But she was a strong female role model for me at a point in my career where the men around me needed a little push. Those men are still my friends and mentors today. But it is Susan I really need to thank for giving me the opportunity to fail.

Focus on the core

I went to another BCAMA event today (BC Marketing Association). Topic was marketing in the fashion industry. It was a panel presentation with three very diverse fashion retailers - Bootlegger, Westcomb and Aritzia. My light bulb moment: I'll never be an Aritziacustomer and they don't care - nor should they.

Why are these 3 retailers successful? Because they know and focus on their core customer. They know who they are and don't try to be anything else.

My favourite line from Sally Parrott (Aritzia) is that they really don't care about the 'non' Aritzia customer and don't spend any money trying to attract them. They focus on their brand demographic and getting them into their stores to experience the Aritzia brand. And I have to begrudgingly agree with their strategy of staying focused on that 15-35 year old. If they grew their product offering to older or younger women they would likely lose their core.

Bootlegger tells a similar story. They had to take a hard look at their business in the 90s and cut their kids line to focus on men and women only. By editing they were able to better focus on their brand. Dustin May, from Bootlegger, has a favourite quote from Tom Ford about editing and seems to live by it. They have edited a lot of their pull marketing programs as they didn't return the same ROI as their CRM program. Again, they focus on their core business and it works for them. I wish them luck in their new e-comm business launching in April.

Westcomb had the best presentation. No slides. Just Gabriel Cote - a passionate outdoor enthusiast who started a company to find the gap between technical apparel and style. He was an authentic approachable guy - just like his brand. Their point of differentiation is they are 100% Canadian made and their focus is global. This is a very specialized industry and they have focused on fostering individual relationships with their dealers to get feedback and build a better product (when asked how he follows trends he talked about taking floor staff out to the pub to get their thoughts and ideas). His best quote was during the Q&A when answering a question about handling the economic downturn. His American dealers are cutting their budgets and his response to them was "you need a Porsche in your showroom if you want to sell a Ford." He knows his product is top of the line and will sell and will also help his dealers sell other products too.

So while I am still rather annoyed that I'm too old and rather too average in size to shop at Aritzia... I realize that I'll just have to find another aspirational lifestyle retailer that fits my current age and lifestyle.

Networking or the Dentist

Which do you dread more? The dentist or heading out to a networking event?

Let me say right off that my dentist is the nicest lady ever. But I still hate going to see her. It may be the 3 years with teen age braces, my mouth full of fillings or just that darn drill sound. And it may be surprising to those who know me, and my very 'social' personality, that I would likely chose the dentist over networking. I really hate going to events on my own. It means you have to start cold conversations with people. And if you go with friends it is too easy to hang out with each other and meet nobody. And networking has always reminded me of some of the hard selling networkers I met at the Toronto Board of Trade back in the day. Not my style. And I've realized it doesn't have to be my style.

From my experience most people leave networking until absolutely necessary. When you have a job you think you are too busy and "why network if I have a job" OR "I'm using social media so I don't have to actually network". We leave in-person networking to entrepreneurs, small business owners, job hunters and smart people who understand its importance. With my recent lay off I spent some time working with a career consultant. I had a lightbulb moment and realized that by focusing on my job and not networking outside my work place I was limiting both my short and long term career options (I had in essence taken myself out of the drivers seat of my career). It takes time but keeping up with your industry and making new contacts is always important. It is like exercising. When you do it regularly it is easy. When you stop it takes a while to get yourself back up-to-speed and into prime shape.

It has taken me about 6 months to get myself back into networking shape. Because those big events intimidate me I opted to do a lot of my networking through volunteer work. Several of the events were fun but didn't lead to anything (answering the phones at the Variety Telethon was certainly a fun experience that I'll likely do again next year), but one event led me to join the Women In Leadership Foundation Advisory Board. This is something I'm passionate about and will help keep me networking even after I'm working again.

The trick I found for me is to just enjoy myself and try to connect with people I like. People want to be helpful and if you aren't in hard sell mode/try to impress people mode they really seem to be open to getting to know you. I recently attended a BCAMA networking event where I thought "oh crap who am I going to talk to" as I walked into the full bar. But I met a couple of great people (hanging out near the bar helped). In particular Sharon McInnis the Proofing Queen. She and I hit it off and were surprised we had so many people in common, yet we had never met. She mentioned a BCAIM event that was topical for a current job search. I went. She was there and made me feel right at home by introducing me to others (including summarizing some of my past work) and saving me a seat with her and her friend. She is a fun lady who I look forward to seeing at other events in the future. And perhaps we might even get the chance to work together on a project someday.

Also met Trevor Roald at the BCAMA event. He is also 'between opportunities'. We had a great chat about twitter and how to maximize that medium - mostly him giving me and Sharon some tips. He is obviously very smart in his area (marketing 2.0 specialist) and I'm sure he'll be working again soon.

So I'm looking at networking in a different way. So while my short term goal is clearly to find a job. I'm really networking to:

(1) meet/reconnect with interesting people
(2) learn more about my field
(3) have fun

The last being the most important. I'm also now really convinced that this is something I need to do ongoing -for the long term health of my career. Of course I continue to use social media. But I'm no longer hiding behind my computer. And I'm having a lot more fun too!!!

Now if I could just make the dentist more fun. But I should call and make an appointment because you never know who she might know... she might be the link to my next job.